Fantasy Island
by xenolith
Summary: UPDATE: After the monster attack, everyone leaves the beach except for Sawyer who decides to stay. Back at the caves, Charlie and Claire talk about the zodiac, and a group tours through the jungle with Locke.
1. Chapter I

"Fantasy Island"   
By: Xenolith   
Characters: All, and a few OCs   
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama, Romance, Fantasy, AU   
Spoilers: General season one spoilers. Takes place after "The Moth".   
Description: Locke isn't all he seems. He is always there to sabotage any chance of rescue. He begins to control the island and the castaways. They become his unwilling prisoners. Will rescue ever come?   
A/N: Okay, I love Locke, but he kinda creeps me out sometimes, so I decided to write a fic where he goes kinda crazy. This is my first _Lost_ fan fiction too… so, there you go. Also, there will be romance, but I can't tell you. Also, there will be some OCs, but none of them will become a focus or anything, because honestly, I can't stand OCs. I just needed them for story development. Trust me when I say I will focus completely on the main characters.

**Chapter I**

Locke stared intently at the flames at they slowly charred the wood around it. His thoughts were circling around all that had just happened. Killing the boar, Jack got stuck in a cave-in, Charlie gave up his drugs, and Sayid had almost gotten a signal from the beacon. Locke narrowed his eyes. A pang of anger flared inside of him. Sayid was trying to find a way off the island, trying to find anyway to communicate a distress signal to land. Locke gripped his hands together to control his rage. He didn't want to leave. This was his destiny. Everyone was always trying to take it away from him.

Not this time.

First he had to distract Charlie, so he told him to go help Jack, and then he took his chance to find Sayid, who was busy receiving the transmission. He had nearly made it in time to hit him before the signal was caught. He then had to destroy all the carefully made equipment Sayid had worked vigorously on.

That made Locke feel bad.

Why didn't anyone else want to stay? The island was powerful and mysterious. It was a haven for men with nowhere else to go.

Locke loved it there. He would rather die than leave.

He turned his eyes to the beach. He could see a small glow through the dense trees. He glared past the tree at the fire from afar. They were the optimists. They kept that fire lit day in and out, hoping and praying for rescue. Locke hated it. They were a threat to his serenity here on the island.

The fire was a problem.

Locke grabbed a nearby knife he had just cleaned from skinning the boar and grabbed a pack. He threw in two bottles of water and then headed out into the trees on the way to the beach.

After a while, Locke stumbled through the dense jungle to the sparse shore. He hid himself behind a shrub in case there was a group set to watch for anything. He noticed a small number of sleeping figures curled on the beach and felt slightly relieved. Well, at least there weren't more of them.

Locke surveyed the surroundings warily. Everyone was asleep. He saw Shannon curled up by the fire and her brother, Boone, was not too far away, lying against a piece of the plane. Sayid was sleeping not too far away from Locke's position in the jungle. The broken pieces of the transceiver were scattered around his blanket and there was a bandage around his head from getting whacked. Locke saw the pregnant girl, Claire, sleeping in an airline seat that was drilled into the sand. Kate was against a piece of the airplane wreckage, a blanket draped around her. Sawyer was napping under the med-tent in a seat. The book _Watership Down _was in his hand. There were five other people scattered about as well. All asleep. Locke noticed that the only one awake was a young man who was watching the fire with boredom, twirling a stick idly in the flames. Locke emerged from his hiding place amongst the bushes and approached him, confident that he could get him to move. The man looked up as Locke approached and made a weak grin.

"Hey," He greeted in a tired manner and looked back at the fire as though he was transfixed with it.

"Hey, I can watch the fire for the rest of the night. You can go on and rest," Locke said politely. The man looked up at him, weary eyes brimming with thanks, and he got up to leave for a spot on the island to sleep. Locke watched him go and then sat down next to the fire to wait for a few minutes to give the man a chance to get to sleep.

Once a few minutes had passed, Locke pulled open his bag and pulled out the two bottles of water. He hastily dumped their contents all over the raging fire. It quelled the blaze and Locke took the opportunity to stamp the flames out before it consumed any more cool air from the ocean.

Now that the fire was out, Locke looked around at all the slumbering figures. He could see their dim outlines from the light of the moon. Locke looked at his knife and then back at the people. The extinguishing the fire was only the first step in thwarting rescue. It wouldn't stop the optimists' desperate hope and determination to get off. Locke wondered if he should kill them.

It would eliminate the threat.

Locke shook his head, swiftly dismissing the idea. Sure he was willing to commit malicious acts to stay on the island, but he was not a mass murderer. Locke then looked to the jungle. Maybe if he could get the guardians to scare them to the caves, then it wouldn't come down to killing them all.

Before he left, Locke looked out to the shore. He saw a light flickering on the sea. Locke breathed a sigh of relief.

That boat would've seen them.

**End of Chapter I**

A/N: Hope you enjoyed part one! Read and review and I'll post more… or maybe I'll just post more anyway cause I love to write. Yep. But I'm also working on two other _Lost_ fics as I'm writing this one. All three will hopefully be done soon. Once I get three chapters of this posted. I'll start posting my other fic.


	2. Chapter II

"Fantasy Island"  
By: Xenolith  
Spoilers: General season one spoilers. Takes place after "The Moth".  
Description: Locke isn't all he seems. He is always there to sabotage any chance of rescue. He begins to control the island and the castaways. They become his unwilling prisoners. Will rescue ever come?  
A/N: ACK! Haven't updated in a while. I feel awful. Here's the second part.

Chapter II

Kate was brushing the sand out of her blanket. She had just woken from a restless night of sleep and her back was aching painfully. She shook her head, cringing as pain flared up her neck. The sand was not the best bed in the world. Kate looked over and noticed Sayid staring at the broken pieces of the transceiver, an agitated expression over his face. Kate frowned sadly. She felt sorry for him. For all of them. She looked out to the ocean and then at the burnt spot where the fire had been burning. It had gone out during the night. Mark, the one who was supposed to keep it lit, was immediately accused of his indolence and inability to keep the flame burning from the rest of the group, but he protested against their charges, stating that Locke agreed to watch the fire for him. After a few minutes, everyone begrudgingly stopped pestering the young man about his fault and began to go about their own business. Kate was curious about his statement against Locke. Where was he then? Shouldn't he still be here? And hadn't he moved to the caves? Kate shrugged, figuring Mark was probably just passing the buck for his own mistake.

Kate put her blanket up on a piece of airplane wreckage to keep sand fleas out of it and then walked over to Sayid. He looked up when she came over and made an effort to smile. Kate then sat down on the ground next to him. She picked up a piece of the shattered device. It glinted sharply in the sunlight. She reverted her gaze back to the communications officer.

"What are you thinking?" She asked and lightly tossed the piece back to the sand. Sayid sighed despondently.

"I think we are hopeless," Sayid muttered and rubbed the back of his head, which had been hurting since yesterday. "Now we'll never find the power source…"

Kate furrowed her brow, sympathy written across her features. "We can send a group to go look for it. We'll find it eventually if we try hard enough."

Sayid shook his head. "No… I'm not going to risk anyone getting hurt or killed by whatever is in there," He said, gesturing towards the dark jungle. Inside of there lurked a monster. They knew it was there, but they didn't know exactly what it was. But it was dangerous, and it could kill. He winced and placed his hand on his head again. He stared at the ground angrily. "I am going to find whoever hit me… and they will pay."

Kate was taken aback by Sayid's harsh words, but cast his comment aside. She would react the same way. "I wish I could help you," She muttered, feeling useless.

Sayid looked up at her, a more tranquil look in his eyes. "So do I."

Kate got up from the ground, holding her breath as pain shot through her sore back again. She gave one last encouraging smile to Sayid before walking away. She walked over to the dead fire again and furrowed her brow, curious as to what happened. She then marched over, grabbed her bag of supplies and looked to the trees. She was going to talk to Jack.

Locke was sitting there in the caves. He held a stick in his hand and was sharpening it to a point, hoping to use it later that afternoon to slay another boar. He glanced up from his diligent work and noticed that Kate had arrived from the beach and was heading for Jack. The doctor was standing around the entrance to a cave that he treated like a first aid station. It was filled with all the medical supplies they could scavenge from the wreckage.

Locke heard a few of their hushed words. She was telling him that they needed to move some of the people to the caves. Some of them were getting sick from the heat and sunlight.

Locke grinned.

Soon they would all leave.

And there would be no risk to his freedom.

Locke then heard her mention the fire. How it had "mysteriously" gone out during the night. Jack blinked and then asked her who was supposed to watch it, and then Locke tuned out their conversation. He didn't need to know the rest.

He continued to sharpen the stake.

Later that night, Locke saw eight of the beach dwellers had packed up their bags and headed through the dense jungle to the caves. When they arrived they were tired and some were red with sunburn. Jack had gotten four volunteers to help them relocate.

Locke was pleased with the results, but was suddenly disturbed to note that Kate was not one of the new residents. He scowled. That meant that some had stayed behind. Some people who might ruin it all.

Locke watched as the doctor check up on the pregnant girl, Claire, and asked how she was doing. She smiled weakly and said she was doing fine, but she didn't want to leave. Locke then saw Charlie wrap and arm around her shoulders and say that he was worried about her. Claire beamed at him and told him that he's worrying for nothing. Locke then turned his attention from the affectionate couple to the light and smoke in the evening sky, trailing up from the beach far away. He narrowed his eyes and got up from his log. Locke looked at the others at the caves going about their business, not paying any attention to him at all, and then he moved swiftly towards the thick trees, determined to make the threat leave.

End of Chapter II

A/N: This was a shorter chapter, because the next one is longer. Hope you like it so far anyone who is reading! I think that Locke is pretty suspicious, but I necessarily don't believe that he really did whack Sayid on the head. I am just taking a possibility and warping it into a story. That's about it. This story also might have spoilers for episodes past "The Moth", even though chronologically it takes place after that episode.


	3. Chapter III

Chapter III

They had learned their lesson. The fire was not going to go out easily. The last six remaining people on the beach were staring at the burning flame diligently, willing it to stay lit with their intense stares. They stayed up late like silent sentinels, eagerly watching for rescue. The only problem was the eerie quiet. The lone sounds were of the waves softly rolling up the beach and the swiftly retreating back and the random crackle of the fire.

Kate looked around at the group of resilient campers. There was a girl, only about 17 years old. Her name was Jade. She was sitting on a blanket, cross-legged with a small lawn gnome on her lap. Kate vaguely recalled the young, green-eyed girl whispering to the gnome, which the girl called Crispin. Kate figured the young girl must have not been completely in her right mind, or was just being silly. Sayid was also staying on the beach. He was determined to find a way to get off the island, whether that meant repairing the shattered transceiver or staying up day and night to watch for any passing ship on the horizon. Kate respected his deep fortitude to escape the island. Mark, the man who had incidentally let the fire go out, was also staying. He desired to redeem his failure with success, so he remained on the shore. Sawyer had also stubbornly refused to leave. Kate didn't know exactly why he stayed on the beach, but she figured it had something to do with the fact that Jack was at the caves. There was also an older man there, Viktor, who was being extremely quiet and reserved. Kate noticed that he was shivering despite the warmth of the fire. She then wondered if he was sick. She involuntarily felt like edging away from him. An illness would only add to her problems.

Jade looked up from the fire and up at the sky. She then tilted Crispin to look at the sky as well. "The stars are so clear out here… Not like in Richmond. Nope. What do you think Crispin?" She looked at her lawn gnome curiously, as though expecting an answer.

Mark chose to spoke up next. "I'm surprised that no one had been able to decide where we are by looking at the sky… It's unfortunate that we don't have an astronomer in our midst."

Kate blinked at the thought that they could uncover their mysterious location by the stars. She had not thought of that. She glanced up at the sky. There were so many that it was dizzying. To think that anyone could make any sense of them all was astounding.

"I'm majoring in astrophysics, but I don't know all the stars by name exactly. I more so study black holes and anti-matter," Jade spoke up and bounced Crispin around. Some of them looked at her with puzzled frowns. Her eyebrows shot up and she replied, "I'm not insane! It just… well, God gave me a lotta smarts, He just took away my sense in exchange. So I'm a bit weird."

"You didn't have to tell us that, Crackers," Sawyer spoke up with a smirk. He shook his head at the girl's eccentric behavior. "A lawn gnome…?"

"It would certainly help if we could find out where we are," Sayid interjected, glaring at Sawyer. Sayid had been thinking back to his failed attempt to uncover the power source and was also making an attempt to turn the conversation away from the notion of insanity. They would all end up crazy if they stayed here for too long. It made his desire to leave even stronger. "If we were near another island, we could try to build a raft to get there, or if I can ever find the power source, we could send a signal to anywhere nearby."

Kate nodded and then sighed. If only there were a way they could mystically warp off the island. She couldn't even escape the dreaded isle in her dreams. Every time she drifted off, she would awake on the island. The only difference was the fact that everything was twisted and a lot more terrifying, filled with all the nightmares from her past. Sometimes she was thankful for insomnia.

"How do we know we're alone here anyway?" Mark asked, looking around at everyone. "I mean, we haven't explored this island all the way. We don't even know what's beyond the mountains."

"No, we don't know if we're alone… but I'm kind of freaked out by the jungle. Didn't you hear those horrible noises?" Jade asked Mark and turned her wide green eyes to the dark trees lying behind her. "There's something in there."

Kate remembered the day that they went to the cockpit and encountered the monster. It had yanked the pilot right out of the plane. They found his mangled body soon after. She suddenly felt cold and scared. She looked at the jungle warily. She knew something was there. She was just glad that some were left in ignorant assurance that they were safe.

Sawyer made a face and shook his head. "I don't believe in monsters," He mumbled and looked back at the fire. He then whispered, "Not the fictional kind anyway."

Kate glanced at Sawyer with a curious frown and then looked at Viktor. The older man was nervously poking at the fire with a stick. "I heard a rumor… that… someone was taken by the monster… Rumors like that are always going around."

"Nobody has died yet," Kate told him, trying to pacify his worries. She knew she was lying, but she couldn't possibly let him know.

Viktor still looked edgy and nervous, but he didn't say anything else. Kate feared the thought that the group would return to silent mode again, but her ponderings were interrupted when the group all heard a loud crash from the jungle. The all turned their stares from the fire to the dark trees that lay a little ways from the beach. Out of the black foliage came a large, shadowed figure that soared out of the jungle. It seemed far away, but it was approaching them fast. Kate rose slowly to her feet and narrowed her eyes, trying to peer through the blinding night at the strange figure. She thought it looked somewhat like a bird. She took a curious step towards it, but someone grabbed her wrist and pulled her away from it as it hurtled closer. As Kate was being yanked away from the fire, she saw Sayid grab Jade and lead her away and then saw Mark scurry behind a piece of the airplane wreckage to hide. She frowned when she noticed Viktor was staying frozen on the spot, staring vacantly up at the black figure. Kate spun around and began to run on her own and looked over to see Sawyer right next to her. He had instinctively pulled her to safety; but she didn't have time to think about it as she heard a deafening screech. She spun around to look behind her and see what was going on. She saw the dark shape crash into the beach around the fire. It was snuffed out immediately by the large shadow and then the beach was pitch black. All that Kate could see now was the dim outline of the monstrous thing as it soared back into the sky. It was soon out of sight.

Once all was quiet, Kate took a tentative step towards the missing fire. She didn't see Viktor anywhere. She saw Sayid and Jade coming up out of the darkness towards the site where the creature had landed. She turned around to look for Sawyer, but he was gone. She made a dubious face and wondered where he went before she headed towards the others.

Sayid and Jade were staring at a gapping hole in the ground where the fire had been… and so had Viktor. Jade was holding Crispin tightly, worry etched over her youthful face. Her green eyes were so wide they seemed to glow in the darkness.

"Wh… what was that…? Where's Vik?" She asked in a wavering voice. Sayid shook his head; his eyes were fixed on the hunk of missing land.

"I do not know… Something came out of the jungle…" He looked up at Kate as she approached. "You don't think it was the monster, do you?" He asked her, dreading her response.

Kate stared at the large cavity in the sand and then up at Sayid. She didn't want to believe it, but that inhuman screech had her convinced. There was something else other than a few airplane survivors on this island. "I… I don't know. Whatever it was… it was big."

Mark approached from behind and was visibly shaking. "I… I saw it from over there…" He pointed towards the piece of airplane wreckage he had crouched behind. "It was awful. It was a huge bird… thing!" He struggled to find the words. "It grabbed Viktor and the fire with its huge… claw things." He made a grabbing gesture and then pointed at the huge pit. "That's all it took… then it soared right over head and turned towards the jungle." He looked at them and had fear written all over him. "Do you think that it will come back?"

Kate sucked in a breath and looked back towards the trees. She was about to speak, but Sayid did for her.

"I don't think the beach is safe anymore," He said and motioned towards the wide-open shore. "We're exposed here. It makes us obvious targets to anything that wants to harm us. If I had known that whatever was in there could fly, I would've moved to the caves a long time ago."

"What's wrong, Chief? Scared of the little monster?" Asked Sawyer with a grin. He had mysteriously emerged from the darkness.

Sayid glared at Sawyer. "If you're not scared, then why did you run off?"

Sawyer continued to smile as he clicked something in his hand. A large beam shot forth from a flashlight in his hand. "I figured we could use a little light."

Sayid continued to scowl at Sawyer, but didn't say anything else. Sawyer pointed the beam at the spot where the fire had been and his grin faded. "Damn…" He muttered and instinctively pulled out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. He then lit it with his lighter and began to inhale it nervously. He wasn't expecting to see that kind of damage.

Kate ignored the exchange between Sayid and Sawyer, but looked timidly at the jungle, feeling suddenly insecure. If they weren't safe anymore, they were going to have to move. She stared at the ground sadly. That meant there would be no one to watch for rescue.

They were going to remain lost here forever.

End of Chapter III

* * *

A/N: Just a note about the OCs… don't worry about them. None of them are main characters or uber-stuper people who will get with any of the real characters. Trust me, I hate OCs, but I'm using them for various reasons. Don't be threatened by them. ALSO... the title "Fantasy Island" will come up eventually... I think. There's a reason I name it that, so... it's not that unusual.

**Tristic** – Thank you so much for the wonderful comments! XD I'm trying to work on this thing… but writer's block is a demonic creature. XP I'm not really sure who hit Locke, but I think it was either Ethan or one of the other "others". I really don't think it was Sawyer. I like him too much to believe he would do that. XD

**Pixiesticks **– Thank you for the comment!

**Cerrita **– Thanks! I hope you keep reading! I'll try to keep you entertained.

**INMH **– (is trying to figure out your screen name) Again, I don't think it was Locke who hit Sayid, but I'm taking this wild idea I once had and am basically running with it. However, I am convinced Locke is determined to stay on the island for his own reasons.

Obligatory Author Statement: "Please Review!"


	4. Chapter IV

A/N: Sorry for the long wait... but this chapter is really long, so I hope it makes up for it. oO

Chapter IV

Kate was packing her bags, and so were the others who had just witnessed the night's terrifying incident. They couldn't stay around on the beach any longer knowing that they were vulnerable to another attack from the creature. Kate looked over and noticed that Sayid was packing the shattered transceiver pieces in his bag. He had a look of frustration on his face. Kate remembered hearing him mutter about the move, upset that he couldn't stay to watch for rescue. Kate could empathize with his disappointment. She felt the same sense of guilt. She looked at noticed Jade was hefting up a duffel bag with one arm and was holding her lawn gnome in the other. Once the crazy girl caught her balance, she headed off towards the jungle, following Mark who was already a little bit ahead of her.

Kate glanced around the beach, looking for Sawyer. She spotted him sitting under the med-tent. She made a face, wondering what he was up to. Wasn't he supposed to be packing? She noticed that he was reading a book with a cigarette in his mouth. She walked over to him.

Sawyer looked up when he caught Kate approaching from the corner of his eye. He closed his book and averted all his attention to her with a smirk.

"Hi," He greeted her cheerily, plucking the cigarette out of his mouth and pitching it to the ground. Kate cast his greeting aside and gave him a questioning look.

"Aren't you leaving?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest. She had a grim expression over her face. Sawyer grin fell and he blinked in mute surprise at her dismal mood. He shook his head.

"Nope," He replied in a matter-of-fact way. He opened up his book again, deciding that Kate wasn't up to playful banter today, not after what happened last night. He figured he wouldn't waste his energy on trying to turn her dour frown into a smile. His failure would only make him feel dreadful too. "Someone has to stay behind and watch for rescue boats." He cast a sideways glance towards the retreating figures down the beach. "Seeing as everyone else on the beach team is throwing in the towel."

Kate sighed and a look of concern flashed in her eyes. "The monster might come back."

Sawyer's eyes swiftly glanced up at Kate. He easily read the worry in her face and another smile blossomed across his face. "Aww, Freckles, I didn't know you cared."

Kate's immediate reaction to his remark was to roll her eyes, but she wondered if she was truly annoyed by the statement or amused by it. She glanced at the ocean ahead for a moment before looking back at Sawyer. He was still grinning at her with an impish glint in his eyes.

"I just don't want to be walking through the jungle one day to find your body hanging in a tree somewhere," She clarified, recalling the horrifying site of the pilot suspended by branches in the jungle.

Sawyer almost laughed, but he didn't. He saw the look of suppressed fear on her face and decided to bite his tongue. Instead, all he said was "I'm not leaving" in an assured way that made Kate's skin burn.

"Fine… but if you see a ship, be sure to tell someone else. Don't just ditch us here," Kate replied irately, aggravated that she didn't change his mind at all… and that he was right. She then marched out of the tent, eager to get off the beach and away from the potential hazards that could befall her there.

Sawyer watched her leave and allowed his confident smirk to fade. He dragged a hand through his hair and sighed wearily before gazing back at his book.

* * *

Charlie was enjoying his new companion. Claire had moved into the caves only yesterday but it made him feel like they had been together forever. He wanted to spend every minute with her, liking every second of her precious company. He played her songs on his recently recovered guitar; he told her jokes that he would only tell his family, and he even gave the only candy bar he had managed to find in the wreckage to her, but she had generously split it with him anyway, telling him that he was crazy. Nonetheless, Charlie would do it all just to see that dazzling smile that lit Claire's face.

At that moment, Charlie was busy adjusting his guitar strings and Claire was reading an astronomy book she had managed to find from her suitcase.

"Hey, Charlie, what's your sign?" Claire asked the bored bass player, looking up from her book.

Charlie stopped plucking at his guitar. "What?"

"Your zodiac sign," Claire replied and flipped a couple pages in her book.

Charlie stared into nothingness as his mind worked for an answer to this seemingly impossible question. "Um… a chipmunk?"

Claire made a face to retain a chuckle. "Okay… what's your birthday?"

"February 23… but what does this have to do with…?"

"You're a Pisces!" Claire cheerfully exclaimed, interrupting Charlie.

"A what?" Charlie asked, furrowing his brow. "Is that good?"

Claire gave Charlie a bright smile and looked down to her book. "Pisces is one of the most loved signs of the zodiac. They are fun loving, charismatic, and creative people. Like you Charlie," Claire explained.

Charlie nodded and grinned. "Sounds like me."

Claire flipped a couple more pages and her grin widened even more. "And apparently Cancer and Pisces are best friends!"

Charlie's smile dropped. "Cancer? I don't want cancer! What kind of book is this!?" He started to panic.

Claire rolled her eyes and whacked Charlie lightly on the knee. "No, you goof. Cancer is another one of the signs. I'm a Cancer," She said, pointed to herself. "It says… that we're a match made in heaven."

Charlie peered over to look at the book where it would say in print that he and Claire were a perfect couple, but Claire pulled back the astrology book. "What? Don't trust me?" She asked with mock disappointment.

Charlie looked at Claire with warm eyes. "No… I just think it's too good to be true."

But their cosmic moment was suddenly halted when they both heard a rustling in the trees. Charlie's head spun around to stare at the source of the sound. He innately inched closer to Claire, prepared to protect her from whatever might come running out of the darkness. Claire uneasily gazed with wide eyes at the dense trees, conscious of their situation. She cast a worried glance towards Walt who had stayed behind with them. He was idly bouncing a ball off of a tree and catching it. Vincent was curled up at his feet. Claire had to be ready to grab Walt and haul him to safety if she had to.

Out of the trees came Mark, who was hefting two large suitcases in his hands. Charlie and Claire immediately relaxed. Charlie felt silly for being so shaken up by a few leaves rustling, but his relief immediately turned to concern when he noticed the haunted look in the man's eyes.

"What's wrong?" Claire asked the man who had just come into the clearing.

Mark looked at Claire with a strange, dead look in his eyes and made a face. "We were attacked last night… we're moving here."

Charlie and Claire gasped in shock at his reply. An attack? Charlie immediately got up from the rock he was sitting on to help Mark carry his suitcase. Mark smiled softly at Charlie for his generosity and set the bag he was carrying on the ground before sitting down on a nearby rock. Charlie carried the one he grabbed and put it near the other bags. He then turned to look at Mark.

"What happened?" He asked. Distress was etched over his face. Claire stared at Mark expectantly, waiting for the answer.

Mark opened his mouth to answer, but at that moment Jade came walking into the clearing with her lawn gnome. She made a heavy sigh and threw her duffel bag on the ground, not carrying if it got grime all over it. She then began to march over to the waterfall, eager to get a drink of water.

"Vik got killed by a big flying beastie thing… the monster," Jade clarified in a strained voice as she picked up an empty plastic bottle to fill. "We were sitting by the fire when it came out of the jungle and grabbed him. We all ran to safety, but Vik… he was like frozen on the spot." She shakily held out the bottle to catch some falling water. "It was the scariest thing ever…"

Charlie and Claire just looked at Jade with wide eyes, still flabbergasted at what they were hearing. Someone had died? Mark nodded in mute agreement at Jade's assessment and bowed his head, feeling useless.

It wasn't long before Sayid and Kate both walked out of the trees. Sayid still looked aggravated by the move, but he said nothing. Kate scanned the cave and saw Claire, Charlie, and Walt, but no one else.

"Charlie, where's Jack?" She asked.

Charlie pointed to the trees, still feeling numb. "Um… he went with the rest of them. Locke decided to take a tour of the jungle and everyone joined him. They… they figure they'll learn more about the island that way."

As the words sunk in, Kate paled. She stared out to the jungle. The monster was out there. Didn't they realize that? It had already taken two, and she wouldn't let it take anyone else. She made a move to leave, but Sayid grabbed her arm. She spun around to face him, but he only looked at her sadly.

"They'll be alright. Locke knows what to do if something goes wrong," He said reassuringly, hoping to calm Kate.

Kate nodded in silent agreement with Sayid. "Yeah… they'll be safe with Locke," She said, trying to convince herself it was true. She then began to go through her bag, checking to make sure she had everything.

Claire stared past the jungle towards the direction of the beach, feeling a strong urge to run there. "But… who's going to wait for rescue?" She asked timidly, as though rescue had already slipped them by.

Kate looked over her shoulder in the direction of the ocean and then glanced at Claire. "Sawyer's staying behind. He said he would watch for us."

Claire seemed taken aback for a second, but nodded, accepting the situation. She then proceeded to pick up her astronomy book, trying to take her mind off of the recent death and the monster. She didn't things could get worse, but it seemed to be going that way.

Jade looked over to see Walt half-listening to the conversation about the attack and paying attention to the ball. She walked over to him and sat down on the ground in front of him with Crispin in her lap.

"Hey there!" She hailed, waving her hand. Walt just stared at her like she was mad.

"Hi," He said, giving her a strange look. He tossed the ball to fly over Jade's head, but she caught it and looked at the toy with a smile.

"My name's Jade," She stated and lightly lobbed the ball right back to Walt. "What's your's?"

"Walt, and this is my dog Vincent," He replied and patted the pale blonde Labrador on the head. "Why do you have a lawn gnome with you?"

Jade made a face and looked at Crispin. She held him up and patted the gnome's head. "Crispin? I don't see why not. Why don't you have one?"

Walt furrowed his brow and shook his head. "You're weird."

Jade's grin widened and she nodded in agreement. "I pride myself on the fact." She set Crispin back in her lap and looked expectantly at Walt. "Well, what do you want to do?"

Walt looked at Jade with a questioning expression, but it quickly turned into a smile. Someone was actually asking him what to do. Someone was paying attention to him. "We could play 'War'!"

Jade raised an eyebrow with a smirk and pulled out a pack of cards from her jacket pocket. "I got some playing cards."

Walt and Jade shared a smile before starting to play.

* * *

Locke led the survivors through the dense brush and on winding trails all throughout the jungle. He felt like he was the king of this world and nothing would happen without his command. He glanced behind him to see if his group was keeping up with him. So far he had showed them how to identify boar tracks so they could be alert for an attack, and he had also helped them identify some herbs that could be used for therapeutic purposes. Jack was happy with the discoveries and collected samples from different shrubs. The other group was being led by another man who seemed to know just as much as Locke did. A man named Ethan.

Locke knew that they were safe from any "harm" that might come. The others around him didn't know what he knew. He was in complete control. The guardians wouldn't hurt anyone without any provocation or his say so.

Locke turned to look back when he heard someone yelling. Everyone around was already crowding around something a few yards down the path they had just traveled. Locke made his way through the crowd to see what the chattering was about. He came upon a man pointed at a large imprint in the ground. The man looked up at Locke expectantly.

"What is it, Mr. Locke? Is it a monster track?" He asked timidly. Everyone else was staring at the huge, strange footprint with wide eyes, terrified that it might be evidence of what was really there.

Locke just stared at the print with a look of disdain. "No… no, it's just where water had worn out the ground. It's nothing to be worried about."

There was a collective sigh of relief and the group started to diverge from the impression, but Hurley stayed rooted on the spot, starring at the strange formation. He shook his head.

"_That is definitely a footprint…_" He thought to himself and looked at Locke with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity. He made one last look at the print before following the group on their nature hike, feeling slightly uneasy.

* * *

A/N: I really hope you like this fic! I'm plotting it out in my head as I type this right now! And I'm sorry I'm juggling two stories at once and schoolwork. Ack! High school is a bummer. Now I shall reply to comments!

**Cas85** – Thank you so much for adding me to your favorite author's list! I really feel honored!! I'm glad you like the fic so far!

**Jen** – Thank you! I'll keep writing the new chapters as fast as I can!

**INMH** – Hey! Thanks for clearing up the screen name thing! Lol! I can agree with that, I think it applies to me as well. I like Jade and Crispin too. They are actually based on two other characters I wrote for a short story: Zoey and Rufus. And I got the name Crispin from _King's Quest V_. The old wizardy guy at the beginning of the game was named Crispin, but he only appeared for a few seconds before never being seen again. I thought it was funny. And I agree, Locke does seem way too content. I think that something is up.

**Freckles** – Yes! I will continue to write as long as my brain keeps up with it! Sometimes writer's block is a danger.

**Tristic** – I'm glad you like it! I hope I can make it scarier later. This chapter wasn't that scary… just kinda… weird, I guess. But thank you!

**Kiss316** – Thanks! I'm trying to integrate strange things that happen every week on "Lost" into my story. As you can now see with the appearance on a certain someone… XD

Obligatory Author Statement: "Please Review!"


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